Romney's terrible record of judicial appointments
One of the problems with going negative on a fellow former governor is that that turnabout is fair play.
As related here, while governor of Massachusetts Romney advocated minumum sentences of two and a half years for first-time meth producers- and then had the effrontery to accuse Mike Huckabee in a current Iowa TV ad of being soft on crime because Huckabee agreed to a request by Arkansas prosecutors, forced to deal with catastrophic prison overcrowding, to support lowering the minimum sentence in Arkansas to a "mere" ten years!
While criticizing Huckabee for issuing too many pardons and commutations of sentences, Romney also bragged that he himself had never commuted a sentence or issued a pardon as governor of Massachusetts- a record which, absent a blind faith on his part in a superhuman degree of perfection in the Massachusetts judicial system, argues a lack of attention to the possibility that human judges and juries even in the Bay State sometimes make mistakes.
A watchdog group called Romney out not only for misleading viewers as to his and Huckabee's respective records on meth penalties, but on his deceptive implication that certain newspapers had commended him on his non-exercise of his power of clemency, when in fact they had criticized it.
But before we start to call Mr. Romney "Mitt the Merciless," it might be well to examine another aspect of his tenure as governor of Massachusetts. While presidents, like governors, do have the power of executive clemency, in the White House is rarely exercised in cases of violent crime. The average recipient of presidential clemency is more likely to be Scooter Libby than Wayne Dumond.
So let's look at Mitt Romney's record in that regard, shall we? As Manuel Miranda put it:
Uncharacteristically, he liberal Boston Globe also put it very well:
Did Romney merely appoint such people in order to have candidates he felt he could get through the rigorous, Democrat-dominated vetting process? He himself said not: "So far I have not ever given any weight whatsoever to whether I think someone can make it through the Governor's Council. I send them individuals who I feel are highly qualified and have the right judicial temperament related to crime and punishment."
Or, on the other hand, Romney supporters might understandably prefer to talk about Dumond. Well, the impact of Romney's judgment regarding judicial appointments needs to be borne in mind by any Romney supporter inclined to criticize Huckabee's role in the Dumond affair. Let's take Romney's appointment of Judge Mitchel J. Sikora to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. According to the Lowell Sun, this Romney appointee:
And then, there's judge Kathe Tuttman, a Romney appointee Romney himself agreed should resign after she ordered the release of convicted killer Daniel Taveres, Jr., jailed for assaulting two guards while serving a 16-year sentence for stabbing his own mother to death. Tuttman had overturned a $100,000 bail on the charges. Once released, Taveres fled to Graham, Washington- where he was subsequently arrested for the murders of newlyweds Brian Mauck, 30, and Beverly Mauck, 28, each shot three times in the head at close range, allegedly over a fifty dollar debt.
Romney had appointed Tuttman to the bench after a fifteen minute interview. He nominated her six days later.
Taveres subsequently confessed to the double murder. When hauled into court on the charges, he winked at the family of the victims.
Romney might well have been upset by the incident. Taveres had vowed to kill Romney himself if released from jail!
All in all, Mitt Romney's track record raises serious questions exist about whether we ought to want him appointing Federal judges for the next eight years. Despite his recent conversion to the strict constructionist model, that record needs to be examined by anybody considering voting for him, either here in Iowa or elsewhere.
Even more so, Romney needs to ponder his own record before continuing to go negative on Mike Huckabee.
As related here, while governor of Massachusetts Romney advocated minumum sentences of two and a half years for first-time meth producers- and then had the effrontery to accuse Mike Huckabee in a current Iowa TV ad of being soft on crime because Huckabee agreed to a request by Arkansas prosecutors, forced to deal with catastrophic prison overcrowding, to support lowering the minimum sentence in Arkansas to a "mere" ten years!
While criticizing Huckabee for issuing too many pardons and commutations of sentences, Romney also bragged that he himself had never commuted a sentence or issued a pardon as governor of Massachusetts- a record which, absent a blind faith on his part in a superhuman degree of perfection in the Massachusetts judicial system, argues a lack of attention to the possibility that human judges and juries even in the Bay State sometimes make mistakes.
A watchdog group called Romney out not only for misleading viewers as to his and Huckabee's respective records on meth penalties, but on his deceptive implication that certain newspapers had commended him on his non-exercise of his power of clemency, when in fact they had criticized it.
But before we start to call Mr. Romney "Mitt the Merciless," it might be well to examine another aspect of his tenure as governor of Massachusetts. While presidents, like governors, do have the power of executive clemency, in the White House is rarely exercised in cases of violent crime. The average recipient of presidential clemency is more likely to be Scooter Libby than Wayne Dumond.
So let's look at Mitt Romney's record in that regard, shall we? As Manuel Miranda put it:
Mitt Romney's record in Massachusetts on judicial nominations is abysmal. His conduct was either an abdication of duty or a complete disregard of the importance of a governor's role in that state's nominations process. By contrast, Governor Huckabee not only left the Arkansas judiciary better than he found it, but he also vigorously supported the President's Arkansas nominees to the federal bench. Excellent nominees, like Leon Holmes who Democrats obstructed for years. As soon as Holmes was confirmed, colleagues elected him Chief Judge.
Uncharacteristically, he liberal Boston Globe also put it very well:
Governor Mitt Romney, who touts his conservative credentials to out-of-state Republicans, has passed over GOP lawyers for three-quarters of the 36 judicial vacancies he has faced, instead tapping registered Democrats or independents -- including two gay lawyers who have supported expanded same-sex rights, a Globe review of the nominations has found.
Of the 36 people Romney named to be judges or clerk magistrates, 23 are either registered Democrats or unenrolled voters who have made multiple contributions to Democratic politicians or who voted in Democratic primaries, state and local records show. In all, he has nominated nine registered Republicans, 13 unenrolled voters, and 14 registered Democrats.
Did Romney merely appoint such people in order to have candidates he felt he could get through the rigorous, Democrat-dominated vetting process? He himself said not: "So far I have not ever given any weight whatsoever to whether I think someone can make it through the Governor's Council. I send them individuals who I feel are highly qualified and have the right judicial temperament related to crime and punishment."
Or, on the other hand, Romney supporters might understandably prefer to talk about Dumond. Well, the impact of Romney's judgment regarding judicial appointments needs to be borne in mind by any Romney supporter inclined to criticize Huckabee's role in the Dumond affair. Let's take Romney's appointment of Judge Mitchel J. Sikora to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. According to the Lowell Sun, this Romney appointee:
*Acquitted the man who killed Jacqueline O'Donald (finding that, giving her the date-rape drug GBL was not "reckless or wanton" enough to sustain the charge of manslaughter because Dolan "did not know the drug was dangerous to the point of grave bodily harm." (See Boston Globe article dated Dec. 31, 2003, "Plymouth man, 34, cleared in death.")
* Released a rapist from the Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous in Bridgewater, over the strenuous objections of the Department of Corrections. Gov. Cellucci called Sikora's decision "outrageous." Shortly after Judge Sikora released him, the rapist/pedophile was arrested for stalking girls with a rope, rock, and knife in his car -- his weapons of choice. (See Boston Herald article dated March 12, 1999, "Freed Mass. rapist arrested in UConn stalking incidents.")
* Conducted Monty-Python type trials complete with jurors dressed in Halloween costumes. (See Boston Herald article dated Oct. 31, 2004, "Judges trick no treat for litigants.")
And then, there's judge Kathe Tuttman, a Romney appointee Romney himself agreed should resign after she ordered the release of convicted killer Daniel Taveres, Jr., jailed for assaulting two guards while serving a 16-year sentence for stabbing his own mother to death. Tuttman had overturned a $100,000 bail on the charges. Once released, Taveres fled to Graham, Washington- where he was subsequently arrested for the murders of newlyweds Brian Mauck, 30, and Beverly Mauck, 28, each shot three times in the head at close range, allegedly over a fifty dollar debt.
Romney had appointed Tuttman to the bench after a fifteen minute interview. He nominated her six days later.
Taveres subsequently confessed to the double murder. When hauled into court on the charges, he winked at the family of the victims.
Romney might well have been upset by the incident. Taveres had vowed to kill Romney himself if released from jail!
All in all, Mitt Romney's track record raises serious questions exist about whether we ought to want him appointing Federal judges for the next eight years. Despite his recent conversion to the strict constructionist model, that record needs to be examined by anybody considering voting for him, either here in Iowa or elsewhere.
Even more so, Romney needs to ponder his own record before continuing to go negative on Mike Huckabee.
Comments
It continues to annoy me that Wyoming still receives no media/polling attention for its January 5 GOP convention. That would certainly impact the other early states, but a curtain has been drawn across it.
Actually, I have never heard of, much less plagerized, a site called "MassResistance," and a record as sorry as Mitt Romney's on judicial appointments is hardly going to be accessible only a single web site in any case. The media hasn't gone after Mitt's liberal record in Massachusetts like it should have, but if you think about it you'll see how the very content of your message gives you away.
I believe you're undecided, my friend, like I believe the Pope is Presbyterian.